The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), the transit agency designing and building the BART extension to San Jose and Santa Clara, on Friday announced the federal government will contribute $5.1 billion to complete the historic and long-awaited project.
The award from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is the second largest transit-related grant from the agency in history and the largest amount of federal money ever given to a West Coast transportation project, said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.
Still, the award is $700 million less than what the VTA had requested to complete the BART extension to the South Bay, Mahan said.
“I think (the FTA) felt they stretched as far as they could,’’ Mahan said, adding that the BART extension was competing for federal money with more than 60 other projects nationwide.
Mahan said he believes cost savings can be found by having “difficult conversations” with every contractor working on the project.
“It’s not going to be easy, but I’m confident we are going to be able to sit down with all of our partners and find ways to close this gap,” he said.
While BART will operate and maintain the South Bay line, VTA is completing the final phase of the 16-mile extension project with the last six miles running through downtown San Jose and ending in the city of Santa Clara.
The news comes just a month after a coalition representing hundreds of businesses sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg urging the FTA to quickly release billions to bring BART to the South Bay. The extension is the largest single public infrastructure project ever proposed in Santa Clara County.
The four-station BART extension that will run from the Berryessa Transit Center in North San Jose through downtown and up to Santa Clara has a price tag that has skyrocketed from $4.4 billion to $12.75 billion in the last decade. Originally slated to begin service in 2026, its opening date has now been pushed back to 2037.
Over the last two decades, Santa Clara County taxpayers have contributed more than $4.6 billion from local tax measures for the project and the state has kicked in another $1.9 billion.
Phase I of the BART extension brought service into Santa Clara County from Alameda County, with stops in Milpitas and North San Jose opening in 2020.
Crews broke ground on the next phase of the extension project in June using local money.
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